What is IEA’s position on pensions?

Any proposed changes must be legal under the Illinois Constitution: “Membership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or school district, or any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall be an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.” – Article XIII, Section 5

After meeting the constitutional requirement, any modifications should be fair to our members.

Any change must maintain the stability of the state retirement systems.

What can YOU do?

Members of the General Assembly need to hear from ALL IEA members! Some forms of communication are more effective than others. In order of effectiveness:

Hold face-to-face meetings with your state legislators to discuss pensions.

Call your state legislators’ offices at 888-412-6570 and share your position or click here to call.

Other information/updates on pensions and pension systems:

State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) SURS serves a diverse group of employees with occupations ranging from professors and teachers to clerical, building service workers, groundskeepers and provides retirement, survivor, disability, and death benefits to over 212,000 members throughout the world.

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) IMRF has provided employees of local governments and school districts in Illinois (with the exception of the City of Chicago and Cook County) with a sound and efficient system for the payment of retirement, disability, and death benefits.

IEA is an association of more than 135,000 members composed of Illinois elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty and staff, educational support professionals, retired educators and college students preparing to become teachers.